Papua New Guinea (PNG) win the 2014 Pepsi ICC EAP Men's Trophy

Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the trophy

The East Asia-Pacific Trophy, 2014, concluded on the 23rd of November in Lismore, Australia. Papua New Guinea, favourites before the tournament began, lifted the trophy to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 (T20) Qualifier 2015 in Scotland & Ireland. What promised to be a thrilling final match between PNG and Vanuatu, especially after the latter’s stellar win by a margin of 140 runs on the previous day against Indonesia, ended in a one-sided game.

The table topper was undecided until the final day as both PNG & Vanuatu stood at 12 points each from their six games. Electing to bat first, Vanuatu managed to score a paltry 96-9 in 20 overs. The game began with Jonathon Dunn hitting a huge six, only to be dismissed off the next ball for a brilliant caught & bowled by Willie Gavera. But the catch of the tournament was yet to come when Lega Siaka dived to his left to dismiss Simpson Obed. PNG sailed through the target easily, with the opening pair of Tony Ura & Lega Siaka notching up 50 in just the fifth over. Siaka hit a huge six off the very first ball of their innings, making an emphatic statement in the process.

PNG captain Christopher Amini said that his team were ecstatic as they achieved what they set out to do. He also accepted that although they started off patchily in the beginning of the tournament, they stuck to their game plan and executed well in the second half of the tournament.

Dipak Patel, PNG coach, mentioned that he was happy that his team worked well together as a unit & executed the game plan to perfection.

The Player of the Tournament award was shared between Lega Siaka & Riyad Khan.

Points Table

TEAM	PLY	WIN	LOSS	PTS	NRR
Papua New Guinea	7	7	0	14	6.141
Vanuatu	7	6	1	12	2.643
Fiji	7	5	2	10	2.824
Samoa	7	4	3	8	-0.357
Philippines	7	3	4	6	-1.734
Japan	7	2	5	4	-1.665
Indonesia	7	1	6	2	-4.624
Cook Islands	7	0	7	0	-3.521